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Travel checklist for vials, syringes and cold packs
Everything people forget, in the order they forget it: before leaving, in the cabin bag, at the hotel, coming home.
Last reviewed · written by PepPrep · not medical advice
Print this, or copy it into your notes. It is everything people forget, in the order they forget it.
Before you leave
- Count the days away and pack one third more syringes, pads and needles than that. Delays happen.
- Freeze the ice packs overnight — the slim ones for an insulated case, not a kitchen block.
- Photograph the labels on everything, in case a box gets lost.
- Write the "opened on" date on any bottle that has been started.
In the cabin bag
- The insulated case with vials, ice pack and a thermometer if you have one.
- Syringes in their sealed packs, with the vial they are for.
- Alcohol pads, a few gauze squares and spot bandages in a zip pouch.
- A travel sharps container — empty going out, sealed coming back.
- Two instant cold packs, for when the freezer is a hotel away.
- Prescription copy or a letter, if you have either. A pen light for dim rooms.
At the hotel
- Ask for a fridge before you arrive; minibar fridges are often set warm. Check it with the thermometer before trusting it.
- Keep the case in the fridge, not loose vials — housekeeping tidies loose things.
- Re-freeze the ice pack in the hotel freezer the night before travelling home; if there is none, the instant packs cover the trip.
Coming home
- Seal the sharps container before packing it. It goes back through security fine.
- Check the thermometer's high reading. If the case went over 8 °C for hours, note it on the vial's label.
The rules for security are in Can you fly with bac water and syringes?; the choice of case is in cooling options.
Supplies mentioned: Travel
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